6.22.2006

Market Bag Pattern

Since our booth at the Artists' market is right next to the Farmers' market, Zabet suggested that we sell some market bags. I already had a few of these on hand from several years ago, but not enough to really sell so I pulled all of the extra cotton and hemp yarns from my stash (excluding my precious manos) and packed them in my bags headed for Norfolk. I made the first few bags using a simple crochet template I came up with eight years ago, but that quickly got boring. Since I am more of a knitter now, I thought I would try to make a knitted version of the bag and I came up with this on my first try. The pattern is really more of a guide than a pattern so feel free to try different yarn weights, needle sizes, and number of stitches.

DSC_0009Materials:
1 4oz ball of worsted weight cotton
1 set US10 double pointed needles
1 set US10 straight needles (optional)

First Strap
CO 90 stitches on dpns and join
Rnd 1: K all
Rnd 2: P all
Rnd 3: BO first 60 stitches, k30

Body
If you want to use straight needles for the body, now is the time to switch.
Rows 1-2: K
Row 3: K4, *wrap twice, k1* rep to last 4, k4
Row 4: k5, *drop wraps, wrap twice, k1* rep to last 4, k4
Repeat row 4 until sides measures 9"
next two rows: k

Second Strap
If you are using straight needles, now is the time to switch back to dpns.
Rnd 1: k30, CO 60, join
Rnd 2: k
Rnd 3: p
Rnd 4: BO all stitches and sew in ends.

Shoppers in the US consume more than 100 billion plastic and 10 billion paper bags annually, that's over 300 bags per person. Market bags and other reusable bags are a great way to cut down on wasteful plastic bags, making the world a cleaner place. Because of this I am offering this pattern free of any type of copyright. Please feel free to copy, distribute, and repost this pattern if you like it. Also, feel free to make and sell these bags as your own.

If you find any mistakes in this pattern, please email me and I will post corrections.

3 comments:

Debbie said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have been searching for a knitted string bag pattern but am not finding much that I like to choose from -- yours is exactly what I was looking for.

I'll be making a couple for myself, and will try to make a bunch for a charity sale we're having next month for The Preemie Project.

Tracy Batchelder said...

These bags look really great! Thanks for the pattern. I found out about it from Debbie. I may try a couple for TPP sale too.

knitty_kat said...

You know, this is a great idea! Thank you!!